What would you pay for it?

[elitespecialkid]

There is a 1985 Honda 250r ATC for sale near me, and i think i might try and get it. the guy says that it is all original, never been raced or rebuilt. He also said that he just spent $300 putting new rear tires & wheels on it. He is asking $900 O.B.O. I noticed in the two pictures that he has of it, the seat has several tears (i can live with it until it can be replaced) and that he hasn't appeared to have washed it after his last muddy/dusty ride. Do you think that this is a fair price for it? Should i talk him down a little bit? Concerns?

[Walkerallen]

pictures would be a great help. but a 250r thats in rough condition around me goes for $1500-$2000. if it was me a $900 250r would be in my garage.

[elitespecialkid]

How do i post pictures? sorry new to the board lol

[Ironbnder]

pictures would be a great help. but a 250r thats in rough condition around me goes for $1500-$2000. if it was me a $900 250r would be in my garage.

I second that!


Under the last post click, GO ADVANCED, then MANAGE ATTACHMENTS. This will take you to the upload screen. From there you will have to kinda figure it out as I can not remember move for move, but it is fairly self explainitory.

[coolpool]

I think that price is more than fair. Go get'er! And post some pics when you get it sorted out, it's pretty painless.

[elitespecialkid]

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Think i got her. its missing the air damns in the front too. whatd you think?

[Ironbnder]

The headlight shell (which looks like an 86 model) and clean part of the fenders looks promising but it is really hard to tell with all the mud on it. The fact that he is running it with no fairings and does not wash it says alot for the owner. If this is a testament to his maintenance habits and knowledge of water cooled engines then you need to look closely at what else he has or has not done to it. Still though, if it runs and stops its worth $900 from what I see.

[Mosh]

Around here, that is a 300-500$ trike. 600-700$ if it runs and moves.

I will guarantee just by looking at those pics, it will need just about EVERYTHING refurbished or rebuilt just to make it rideable and reliable.

To make that trike nice again, you will have at least 1000$ into it, if you can do all the work yourself.

[elitespecialkid]

You think everything will need to be rebuilt immidiatly or do i have a little time to play around with her before i need to start working?

[Xpress]

I'll side with Mosh. The best thing to do is to check it out, and see if it runs good and if it rides and shifts smoothly. If it does, offer him $700, no more, cash money. If it doesn't start FROM COLD and it has shifting issues, no more than $500.

You really won't know until you check it out in person, how bad of condition everything is. Right off the bat, I know it's going to need a new chain, and possibly sprockets, so that's something you have to consider...

I really hate it when people try to sell their stuff on CL AND THEY LEAVE IT FILTHY. Says a lot about how much they don't care about their machines. I mean, come on, how friggin hard is it to do a simple wash with a hose and a bit of soap? Wouldn't take more than 20 mins.

[Mosh]

You think everything will need to be rebuilt immidiatly or do i have a little time to play around with her before i need to start working?
Well that depends on what type of person you are. To me, 700$ is a big investment. Yeah you want to ride it right away, but neglecting major issues will render you 700$ investment a huge paper wieght, and turn the end cost even higher depending on what would fail becuase of impatience to ride it before it is ready.
For instance..It needs chain and sprockets. That is 80$ in parts..But if left untouched the chain snaps and breaks your Cases which are no longer available without shelling out big bucks and rebuilding the whole bottom end. That 80$ repair neglected, just turned into a 800$ repair.
Right off the bat, just by looking at those two pics here is what I would guess it needs right away.


Swingarm bearings
Front forks rebuilt and boots.
Chain and Sprockets
Air filter
More than likely brake pads
Rear swinger bearings
and a Good tune-up.


That is 300 Bucks right off the bat, not even touching the cosmetics.

[Walkerallen]

i withdraw my initial statement. thats probably only worth about $500-$700. i wouldnt pay more than $700. but it has tons of potential. go get her

[elitespecialkid]

Alright. Thanks for everyones contributions. I called the guy but it went to his voicemail. I'll keep trying over the next few days and see if i can go look at it.

[gomer202]

The chain on the bike looks pretty loose might want to tighten that up if you get it and you can get maier shrouds for like $60 or something like that but if it runs an has no cracks in the engine case then I would say $900 might not be a bad price I think you might be able to get it a bit cheaper

[dksix]

The color of the build up on the fork lowers look to me like the fork seals are leaking. It's no fun riding one with spring only suspension. I would think not having shrouds could cause over heating problems. I would expect $800 to make it right (that turns into $1500, for me when I get it apart). I'd like to have a 250R and there are many around here, I wouldn't walk away if he was willing to deal and I had the extra cash but I'd try to hold it at $800.

[Ironbnder]

Once again it depends on what area you are in for the opinion on price. In La, if you want a liquid R, then that would be a good buy at $900, if it runs and stops, because you are not going to find another one anywhere close. My option here would be to have one shipped in. As for you in Wyoming, you should compare it to your options around you to debate the price and just how bad do you want one.

[elitespecialkid]

Alright guys, thank you for the honest input. For now, i think i'm going to have to pass this up, being that my 350 odyssey needs a motor rebuild so thats where my cash is going to end up going. I will own a 250r eventually!

[EarlyBronocGuy]

I never paid more than $200 for any of the trikes I own. Of, course, none of them ran, but everything was there. If the thing has sat outside behind the barn for years, in the rain, the sun, on flat tires, chain rusted solid, tank rusted trhough, seat torn to shreds, plastics faded to nothing and crumble at a touch, it's obvious they don't consider it worth taking care of - but then try to jack up the price because it's "rare".

Yeah, if it's "rare" and "worth a lot of money", then they should have taken better care of it, and I might consider paying closer to the price they wanted at first.

Rules of thumb:

1.If it's a pile of parts that needs a total resto - maybe a couple hundred.

2. If it runs well, but needs some work, a good cleaning, some parts, maybe some paint - maybe a couple more hundred, but no more than a grand.

3. Anything over $1000 better be in DAMN good shape, run extremely well, look very good, maybe only need some minor parts or detail work to make it perfect.